Production of composite yarns



Oct. 25, 1938. A, a BELL 1 2,134,022

PRODUCTION OF COMPOSITE YARNS Filed Oct. 25, 1957 45 fpj. S #wist V '45k ai S +wisr.

INVENTOR Angus Smirh Bell.

Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED "STATES PRODUCTION OF COMPOSITE YARNSAngus Smith Bell, Spondomnear Balm-England, assignor to CelaneseCorporation of America,

a corporation of Delaw Application ctober23, 1937, Serial No.

are

In Great Britain November 26, .1936

14 Claims.

The invention relates to the manufacture of an improved composite yarnand with fabrics and the like made of or containing such yarn.

In weaving, knitting or otherwise forming into fabric yarn which has hadcrimps or curls in duced in its structure with the object of increasingthe voluminosity of the yarn the danger frequently arises that thecrimpy structure and resulting increased voluminosity is impaired owingto the tension to which the yarn is neces-' sarily subjected in thecourse of the formation of the fabric. Crimped continuous filament yarnsor crimped yarns having a continuous fila ment basis are particularlyprone to lose voluminosity on being subjected to weaving, knitting orlike tensions since the component filaments of the yarns have anoriginally straight structureto which there tends to be a reversion ifthe yarns are maintained in a straightened condition for 20 any lengthof time.

It is an object of the invention to provide a composite yarn ofvoluminous character which will resist tension to which it is subjectedin fabric-manufacturing or other operations.

According to the invention a yarn is formed by doubling together acrimped yamand an uncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling theresulting doubled yarn with. a similar doubled yarn in the reversedirection.

Advantageously, each uncrimped component yarn is itself twisted in thedirection opposite to the direction in which it is doubled with thecrimped yarn, the twisting preferably being sub-. 1 stantial, though ofa degree less than that to 35 which the uncrimped yarn is doubled withthe crimped yarn. At least one of the uncrimped component yarns mayitself comprise two or more uncrimped yarns twisted together, thedirection of the twist being opposite to that in which the I uncrimpedyarn is doubled with the crimped yarn. Instead of doubling one yarncontaining crimped and uncrimped components with another similar doubledyarn, three or even moreof such doubled yarns may be doubled together.The composite yarn resulting from doubling or twisting yarn in themanner described above is characterized in that it has a crimpedvoluminous component associated with uncrimped yarn, the uncrimped yarnforming a base or foundation 60 which has a low degree of extensibilityrelative to the crimped yarn. In this manner when the composite yarn issubjected to tension the degree to which the crimpedyam can extend islimited by the extensibility of the uncrimped yarn, the uncrimped yarnthus protecting the crimped yamfrom damage which would be caused byundue extension, and preserving the voluminosity of the yarn. c

The composite yarn according to the invention may be so constructed asto impart to fabric and the like containing the yarn the appearance ofbeing composed substantially of voluminous yarn. In order to obtain thiseffect the construction of the composite yarn may be modified in such amanner that the yarn contains a greater quantity of crimped yarn thanuncrimped yarn. Thus a crimped yarn may be employed which is of heaviercount or denier than the uncrimped yam with which it is doubled.Likewise the crimped yarn may be permitted to spiral around theuncrimped yarn while the yarns are being doubled together, i. e. bydelivering to the doubling device a greater length of crimped yarn thanuncrimped yarn, e. g. two to three or more times as much of the crimpedyarn than the uncrimped yarn. Thevoluminous effect may be enhanced stillfurther by both employing a crimped yarn of greater denier than thedenier of the uncrimped yarn and causing the crimped yarn to spiralaround the uncrimped yarn.

The components of the composite yarn according to the invention maycomprise like materials or may be of different materials in order toenable efi'ects such as cross-dyed eiiects to be obtained. Thus theuncrimped yarn may be of one material, e. g. a natural material such ascotton, wool or silk, while the crimped yarns may be of anothermaterial, e. g. artificial mate-- rials such as regenerated cellulose ororganic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate; or viceversa. Woolor cotton-like effects may still be obtained by dispensingwith wool or cotton yarns and employing yarns containing artificialstaple fibres, e. g. staple fibres of cellulose acetate of lengthappropriate to that of the fibres which they are to resemble. Eachcomponent yarn may be a fibrous yarn, or the component yarns maycomprise continuous filament yarns and fibrous yarns. A particularlyuseful and attractive yarn may be formed from component yarns ofcellulose acetate, the uncrimped yarns being of ordinary continuousfilaments and the voluminous yarns being of crimped filaments.

A pleasing effect may be obtained by employing as the component yarnsartificial yarns having different characteristics. Thus bright and dull.artificial yarns (e. g. of cellulose acetate or other organicderivative of cellulose) may be employed together to give a contrastingeffect independent of shade or colour, the uncrimped yarns for ex-'ample being dull while the more prominent crimped yarns are bright, orvice versa. Again both may be in the dyed state prior to doubling, thedifferent components being dyed similarly or, in contrasting colours, asdesired. When the uncrimped components of the composite yarn themselvescomprise two or more yarns doubled together the individual yarns may beof different colours.

After weaving or other fabric-forming opera- -tion the fabric may beraised in any suitable manner to form a nap or pile on the fabric, partof the nap or pile being subsequently cropped off if desired. Whenmechanical raising is resorted to the composite yarn according to theinvention has the advantage that the uncrimped yarns are protected bythe surrounding voluminous yarns and do not contact with thefabric-raising elements.

As mentioned above the crimped voluminous yarn may be made of or maycomprise filaments or fibres of any suitable material, for exampleartificial material such as cellulose acetate or other organicderivative of cellulose, or regenerated cellulose, as for exampleviscose, cuprammonium and nitrocellulose, or completely saponifiedcellulose acetate or other cellulose ester artificial silk, or it may becomposed of or maylcomprise filaments or fibres of partially saponifiedcellulose acetate or other ester of cellulose. The yarn may haveundergone a stretching process during its production or subsequent toits production so as to impart a high tenacity thereto. Such astretching will, of course, be carried out before imparting any crimp orcrinkle to the material.

The crimp or crinkle may have been imparted to the component filamentsor fibres of the voluminous yarn by any suitable process, for example bymeans of crimping rollers, the crimp imparted by such rollers preferablybeing set immediately after or during the crimping operation,

as for example by treatment with steam; by twisting, setting anduntwisting of the yarn as a whole (here again the setting may be broughtabout by a treatment with steam) by treating yarns of cellulose acetateand similar substances which are sensitive to the action of hotwaterasubstantially without tension with hot aqueous liquors, forexample hot dilute soap solutions, this process being speciallyapplicable to the'treatment of cellulose acetate and similar filamentsof substantially fiat cross-section; by applying a similar aqueoustreatment to flat filaments of cellulose acetate'or other organicderivatives of cellulosecontaining para-dichlorbenzene or otherplasticizing agent for the cellulose derivative as described in BritishPatent No. 459,781; or by any combination of these processes, in whichconnection reference is made to British'Patents Nos. 474,401 and474,402. The crimp may have been fixed in the materials, for example bythe process described in British Patent No. 455,021.

The invention is illustrated, but is not to be regarded as limited, bythe accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 illustrates a composite yarn according to the invention; and

Fig. 2 illustrates a specific form of composite yarn according to theinvention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the yarns A are crimped yarns and the yarns B areuncrimped yarns. One end of yarn A is doubled with one end of yarn Bwith an S twist and the product is doubled, with of at least two ends ofa Z doubling twist, with an exactly similar yarn.

Referring to Fig. 2, the yarns C are 100 denier crimped celluloseacetate yarns (produced, for example, by the process described in U. S.Patents Nos. 2,089,198 and 2,089,199 and British Patent No. 464,981) andthe yarns D are denier yarns of continuous filaments of celluloseacetate. In the construction illustrated, two ends of yarn D are doubledtogether with 12 turns per inch 2 twist and the resulting doubled yarnis doubled with one end of yarn C with 45 turns per inch 8 twist, unitsof length of yarn D being fed to the doubling device while 250 units oflength of the yarn C are fed to the doubling-device. The resultingdoubled yarn is then doubled with an exactly similar yarn with 12 turnsper inch Z twist.

The composite yarns according to the invention may be woven into fabricin any suitable manner. They may, for example, be in the warp or weft orboth in the warp and weft, and in any of these cases may be associatedwith yarns of any other desired character. When employed as weft theyarn according to the invention is preferably woven in the mannerregularly employed in the manufacture of pile fabrics, since in thiscase the weft lies largely on the surface of the fabric and can thus bepresented to raising apparatus without difllculty. The composite yarn isparticularly suitable for weaving into scarves and like garments wherevoluminosity and a raised pile effect is desired, the scarves preferablybeing cut and fringed after raising. While the yarn is especiallysuitable for weaving, it may, nevertheless be formed into fabric by anyother fabricforming operation, for example circular knitting or warpknitting. The yarn may with advantage be used for hand-knittingorfingering" purposes.

Having described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patentis:-

1. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the resulting doubled yarnwith a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist in the oppositedirection.

2. A composite yarn formed by first forming two doubled yarns eachconsisting of a crimped yarn and an uncrimped yarn doubled together,-the doubling twists in such doubled yarns being in the same direction,and then doubling together the doubled yarns so formed by means of adoubling twist in the direction opposite to the doubling twists in theindividual doubled yarns, at least oneof such uncrimped yarns consistingyarn twisted together.

3. A composite yarn formed by first forming two doubled yarns eachconsisting of a crimped yarn and an uncrimped yarn doubled together, thedoubling twists in such doubled yarns being in the same direction, andthen doubling together the doubled yarns so formed by means of adoubling twist in the-direction opposite to the doubling twists in theindividual doubled yarns, at least one of such uncrimped yarnsconsisting of at least two ends of yarn twisted together in saidopposite direction.

4. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the resulting doubled yarnwith a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist in the oppositedirection, the quantity of crimped yarn in the composite yarn beingsubstantially greater than the quantity of uncrimped yarn in thecomposite yarn.

5. A composite yarn formed by first forming two doubled yarns eachconsisting of a crimped yarn and an uncrimped yarn doubled together,

doubling twist in the direction opposite to the doubling twists in'theindividual doubled, yarns,

at least one of such uncrimped yarns consisting of at least two ends ofyarn twisted together in said opposite direction, the quantity ofcrimped yarn in the composite yarn being substantially greater than thequantity of uncrimped yarn in the composite yarn.

6. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the resulting doubled yarnwith a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist in the oppositedirection, the length of any individual crimped yarn in the compositeyarn being substantially greater than the length of any individualuncrimped yarn in' the composite yarn. y

7. A composite'yarn formed by first forming two doubled yarns eachconsisting of a crimped yarn and an uncrimped yarn doubled together, thedoubling twists in such doubled yarns being in the same direction, andthen doubling together the doubled yarns so formed by means of adoubling twist in the direction opposite to the doubling twists in theindividual doubled yarns, at least one of such uncrimped yarnsconsisting of at least two ends of yarn twisted together in saidopposite direction, the length of any individual crimped yarn in thecomposite yarn being substantially greater than the length of any in- Idividual uncrimped yarn in the composite yarn.

8. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction yarn with a similar doubled yarn bymeans of a doubling twist in the opposite direction, the length of theindividual crimped yarns in the composite yarn being at least 2 timesthe length of the individual uncrimped yarns in the composite yarn.

9. A composite yarn formed by first forming two doubled yarns eachconsisting of a crimped and doubling the resulting doubled V yarn and anuncrimped yarn doubled together, the doubling twists in such doubledyarns being in the same direction, and then doubling together thedoubled yarns so formed by means of a doubling twist in the directionopposite to the doubling twists yarns, at least one of such uncrimpedyarns conin the individual doubled sisting of at least two ends of yarntwisted t0-.-

gether in said opposite direction, the length of the individual crimpedyarns in the composite yarn being at least 2 times'the length of theindividual uncrimped yarns in the composite yarn.

10. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the resulting doubled yarnwith a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist in the oppositedirection, the total denierof the crimped yarns in the composite yarnbeing substantially greater than the total denier of the uncrimped yarnsin the composite yarn. Y

11. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a fibrous crimped yarnand an uncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the result-f ingdoubled yarn with a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist inthe opposite direction.

12. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in one direction and doubling the resulting doubled yarnwith a similar doubled yarn by means of a doubling twist in the oppositedirection, the component yarns being formed of the same material.

13. A composite yarn formed by doubling together a crimped yarn and anuncrimped yarn in cellulose acetate uncrimped yarn in one direction anddoubling the resulting doubled yarn with a similar doubledyarn by meansof a doubling twist in the'opposite direction.

ANGUS SMITH BELL,

